Guwahati, Nov. 1: The Kley is Ziro's river of life.

Its polluted waters, though, are coming in the way of the Apatani cultural landscape, which includes Ziro in southern Arunachal Pradesh getting the coveted Unesco World Heritage Site tag.

Come November 13, villagers, NGOs, police, paramilitary forces and government employees together will get into the dirty waters of the Kley to clean a 15km stretch of the river as part of the Clean Mission Kley aimed not only at getting the tag, but also to sustain livelihood.

"Kley is an integral part of our Apatani cultural landscape. It is the source of irrigation for our unique paddy, fish and millet joint cultivation which our community has been practising for ages. But haphazard dumping of wastes in the Kley has not only polluted it badly but also has posed a threat to its existence. So we decided to join hands, clean the river and keep it flowing unhindered," Taku Chatung, president of the Apatani Youth Association which spearheaded the Mission Clean Kley, told The Telegraph from Ziro. The Apatanis practise a unique agricultural technique which involves optimum land use and watershed management by the community. The farmers not only rear fish in paddy fields but also grow millet on bunds (partitions) between the rice plots. There is efficient conservation of crucial watersheds, ensuring flow of the streams into the Kley to meet the needs of the people. The tribe also has an effective traditional village council called bulyan to prevent illegal activities.

Thembang Dzong, a fortified village near Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh, maidams (burial grounds) of Ahom dynasty and the "silk village" Sualkuchi in Assam are the other three sites from the Northeast which were forwarded last year for nomination for the World Heritage Site tag.

"If we do not protect the Kley, it will affect the Apatani cultural landscape and will make our chances of getting the Unesco status bleak. Since we are involving NGOs, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel, police and government officials, it will spread awareness about how we are destroying the environment in Ziro valley by throwing garbage into water and doing haphazard construction. We must stop use of polythene and support the district administration to enforce its ban," Chatung said.

Lower Subansiri district had earlier banned the use of polythene. To push the Kley Clean Mission, the district administration has recently issued an official notification and announced that November 13 would be observed as Clean Kley River Day every year. The state government has also decided to work out an action plan for sewerage treatment and rejuvenation of the Kley.

There are about 50,000 Apatani people living in the cultural landscape area in seven villages, situated about 120km from Itanagar.